The Legislative Committee on
Education wishes to thank the people who have contributed to the compilation of
this booklet.

Several program vendors were
extremely helpful in supplying staff with information on the programs that
appear in the pages of this booklet. In addition, the Committee thanks the
staff of the Nevada Department of Education and Dr. George C. Hill, University
of Nevada, Reno, for the information provided on the effectiveness of the
programs.

INTRODUCTION

At the national and state levels,
myriad efforts are in place that set high standards for student learning.
State policies have been set to challenge, support and monitor schools as they
work to improve learning for all students. Incentives for improvement and
sanctions for continued low performance have been established. At the same
time, a number of remediation programs of instruction are beginning to
demonstrate the ability to increase the academic achievement of students. With
the state standards movement maturing and with increasing numbers of remedial
program developers showing both research bases and effectiveness data to
support their products, it is hoped that low-performing schools will have the
chance to improve and reach all students.

The Nevada Education Reform Act
(NERA) of 1997 established a structure for the Legislature to view the public
education system as a whole; established a statewide mission statement;
formulated a series of goals; identified polices and programs that fostered
improvement; and set the tone for reform and improvement. With the passage of
Senate Bill 1 of the 19th Special Session, the provisions of the
federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 were incorporated into NERA. The
goals for improvement and consequences of failure to improve for schools were
brought into greater focus. Now, the stakes are higher for low-performing
schools. As a result, the focus of this book has changed slightly. The
programs contained herein have been examined for subject-area emphasis and
alignment to Nevada content standards in greater detail than ever before.

As a part of NERA, the Legislative
Committee on Education is required to recommend to the Nevada Department of
Education programs of remedial study that have proven to be successful in
improving the academic achievement of pupils in the subject areas of reading,
writing, mathematics and science. The Legislative Bureau of Educational
Accountability and Program Evaluation, with assistance from the Department of
Education and other education specialists, developed this List of Effective
Remedial Programs (LERP) and presented it to the Legislative Committee on
Education in March 1998. Updates to the LERP were presented to the
Committee in January 1999, March 2000, January 2001, January 2003 and May
2004. Upon approval of each List by the Committee, the following
recommendations were made:

The programs should undergo
repeated evaluation to determine their continued effectiveness on
increasing academic achievement of low-performing students; and

Additional programs should be
reviewed for possible inclusion on the LERP.

This year staff again convened to
review the entire list of 40 programs on the 2003 edition of the LERP.
Also, 36 new programs were submitted for review and possible inclusion. Based
upon the review, staff recommended that 8 programs be added to the LERP
and of the 40 programs on the 2003 edition of the LERP, 36 be
continued. The Legislative Committee on Education approved staff’s
recommendations as presented and added one additional program (Voyager
Passport). Therefore, the total number of programs on the 2004 edition of
the LERP is 45. The Nevada Department of Education officially adopted
the recommendations of the Committee on June 28, 2004.

Sources of Information

Since the LERP is now a
well-established part of the education accountability system in Nevada and many
program vendors and educational publishers contact staff directly to find out
how to participate, research by legislative staff is limited. The following
resources were used by staff to obtain information on both new and existing programs:

Nevada Department of Education
staff

State of Nevada school district
staff and teachers

Florida Center for Reading
Research, Florida State University (www.fcrr.org)

Since FY 2000, programs on the
LERP have been required to submit information on how closely aligned the
content of the program is to Nevada’s curriculum standards. If the
program has an assessment, alignment to the state’s norm‑referenced
test (NRT) has historically been required.

With the advent of annual criterion-referenced
testing (CRT) in Grades 3-8, as required by Senate Bill 1, the emphasis is
now on alignment to Nevada standards. NRTs are given in Grades 4, 7 and
10. Alignment to the state’s NRT is welcome but not required.

Evidence of Effectiveness

Independent third party
evaluations

Quantitative data based on
sound statistical principles

Qualitative data based on
proper social science methodologies

Evidence that the program has
been replicated

Requirements for Implementation

Professional development/training
for teachers

Equipment or materials needed
separate from the program costs

Program staff from the company for
follow up/visit

Costs

Training/professional
development

Cost per student/classroom/school

Required add-ons

Additional technology requirements/capability
of school to make upgrades

About the Entries in This Book

The following entries provide
information about each remedial program. This information is for school staff
and district staff to use in deciding which program would be most helpful in
targeting those students that need help improving achievement.

Entries are divided into two
categories: curriculum-oriented programs and skills development programs.
Curriculum-oriented programs teach concepts and facts and are geared toward
giving students the skills and competencies needed to move ahead in school and
succeed at assessments. Skills development programs are not content‑focused
or subject-specific; rather, these programs help students study more
effectively, learn with more ease, or think critically. It is important
that schools choose the program(s) that will target those student populations achieving
at the lowest level.

Schools must also understand that
proper program implementation is crucial for the success of a remedial
program. Program publishers design programs in a precise way, requiring
specific equipment or a particular amount of time be devoted to the program.
Changing the vendor’s recommendation to suit a school’s preference may have a
decided effect on whether the school obtains results from the program. It
is crucial that schools learn exactly what is required to completely and
correctly implement a program before applying for NERA remediation grants.
Establishing relationships with education vendors prior to beginning the NERA
application process helps to develop a common understanding between schools and
vendors and can often avoid unforeseen problems.

NOTE: NERA grants require schools
to implement a program according to the vendor or publisher’s instructions.

For further information regarding
the programs in this book, please call the Legislative Bureau of Educational
Accountability (located in the Fiscal Analysis Division of the Legislative
Counsel Bureau) at (775) 684-6821. It is the intent of the Legislative
Committee on Education that the LERP be reviewed and updated on a
regular basis so that the content remains current with new technology in
remedial education.

This document may also be accessed at: www.leg.state.nv.usfiscal/lebeape.cfm